SPT ~ Gift a total stranger...

NO photo op! I know it totally defeats the purpose of "self portrait Tuesday"...but oh well!

Yesterday I was in the store, with my coupon book in tow... searching for some thrifty deals, and I went down an isle and was captivated by an older lady with a few coupons in her hand seemingly searching for something specific.

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Reminded by what seems to be a new phase in coupon shopping to the fact that this lady, like my MIL has probably been coupon shopping since before I was born. Not a new concept to her.

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So I pretended to look for my items; while secretly watching her coming up the isle towards me. When she was close enough to me she looked up and smiled and I asked her if she was finding any good deals? She said she was on the hunt for some salt and baking soda as she showed me the coupon clutched in her hand... so I began to look with her. I know all to well the frustration of trying to hunt down a good deal only to realize they are out of the product, or just not being able to find it in the store.

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Pretty soon, I spotted the space where the salt should have been, but there was no product on the edge of the shelf. After confirming it was what she was looking for, I crawled down on my knees and spotted three more packages in the very back of the shelf. I reached them and handed them up to her. It wasn't a huge gift to a stranger, but she wouldn't have been able to climb down there and get back up on her own.

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The real gifts were the information I recd from this stranger... she told me about using the old baking soda from your fridge and dividing it up and pouring it down your drains and disposal with a little vinegar and she said it will bubble up and kill bacteria and food particles and keep your pipes from backing up.

I could have probably used this information prior to "the flood" earlier this month. I always thought it was a waste of money to use baking soda in the fridge and change it out every month like they say on the box... so this is a useful tip to get more use out of it.

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I also learned; because I am still sporting the remnants of the ugly cold sore... is that L-Lysine wasn't working for me because I was only taking it when I would have a break out! She told me if I take it like a vitamin everyday, I probably won't have any more breakouts! Ahhhh... that's a new slant on the product, I didn't know... makes a big difference!

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I really enjoyed this lady so much and her smile totally made my day. I probably shouldn't give my mother such a bad time for talking to stangers every where she goes... she probably touches more people that way and I really razz her about it!

Sorry Mom! Keep gifting strangers! It must be a blessing, not a curse!